Random Violence

“Not your fault. Wrong place, wrong time. She got shot.”

Violence, in the eyes of the American Bureau of Justice, is defined as assault, murder, rape, sexual assault and robbery. Non-fatal violence is measured by the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Considering Newark, NJ, statistics show 90 percent of suspects are African American with 9 prior arrests, and the average age being 26. There is no doubt that there is crime in Newark and because of that the state and its people have gained a certain violent reputation. But what is often forgotten is that the majority of the victims murdered in Newark are black men with many of them being recently released from prison. There is also a high concentration of poverty within the state, and statics show a direct correlation between crime and poverty being that people are often driven to felony as a means of survival.

Additionally, around 80 percent of the streets of Newark do not have a single reported crime between the years 2008 and 2014. In fact, 2014 showed that Newark’s crime rates were below cities like Baltimore, St. Louis, Oakland and Detroit with robbery rates declining in 2014 (along with Camden). Even carjackings have plummeted in the same year showing an overall decrease in crime over the last few years.